Weather Emergency Closings

Snow/Weather Emergency Closing Procedures

Parents, please read the following completely to understand the
proper Emergency / Early Closing procedures.

When winter weather becomes a reality, what do we do about school?

Many factors enter the decision to close school for the day or close early once we are already in school. The decision to close our school or open later than usual is based on decisions made by the public school district and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The decision is not taken lightly. The safety of the children waiting at bus stops or on the roads is the primary concern. While finding child care for your child is difficult at the last minute, every parent that has children in school should have a backup plan for child care in the event school is closed and the parent has to be at work.

Since we are located in the Council Rock School District, any announcements pertaining to Council Rock Schools will apply to Saint Katharine Drexel in the event of emergency school closings or early dismissals or late start times. Other announcements by the other school districts will pertain only to their transportation. For example, if Neshaminy District is running two hours late but Council Rock is opening on time, Saint Katharine Drexel School will open on time but Neshaminy buses to school will be two hours late. It is then your decision to have your child take the bus at the adjusted time or provide your own transportation.

Please listen to KYW radio (1060 am) for our school closing number (Saint Katharine Drexel Catholic School #756) or listen to/watch Channel 3 (KYW), Channel 6 (WPVI), Fox Philadelphia, Channel 10 (WCAU) for closings listed by name. Each station’s website will also have a school closing link. We will also put a message on Facebook with information about overnight decisions to delay opening or closing for the day.

In addition, we will post a message on the school website (http://www.skdschool.org). As soon as any information is available regarding our status, we will get it posted to the website so you will be informed of the situation (if the internet is cooperating.) Our automated notification system, School Reach, will call you with a message regarding school during weather situations provided you have not opted out of receiving this message from the service.

EMERGENCY EARLY DISMISSALS

School Reach, our automated notification system, will contact you via the numbers you submitted to the system in addition to your home phone number as soon as we can give you accurate and complete information about the district’s decision to close and transport when conditions deteriorate.

Should you choose to pick up your child instead of their usual bus transportation in the event of an emergency early dismissal, you mustcome to the office to collect them. Parents may not go to the classroom to take their children home. All students must be signed out in the office. If you need to notify us of a change in your child’s usual transportation, please fax the information to the school office at (215)355-9526 or email Mrs. Young at mrsyoung@skdschool.org. This is for the safety and well being of your child so that we know where they are and who is responsible for their care. Usual car riders will be dismissed at a time announced with the early dismissal information.

PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE SCHOOL OFFICE to inquire about the situation so that we can keep the school lines open for calls from the school district and the bus company to inform us of their decisions. We will not release incorrect information based on hearsay. We recommend you do not make a decision based on hearsay either.

We have provided many ways for you to check on the status of the day without tying up our school phone lines. If your phone indicates that SKD has tried to reach you, please listen to the message first! It is extremely hectic in the school office on these emergency early dismissal days. We hope you understand our need for your cooperation in this matter.

Reminders for parents:

If you are aware that an emergency early dismissal is possible during the school day, please have a conversation with your child before school about after school arrangements or write a note for them about how they should be going home.

No student will be directed by school personnel to call their parents from their cell phone to pick them up due to an early closing. Parents are strongly advised to consult the resources we have provided to verify the status of school rather than a message from their student’s cell phone.